Letter #5 to a Woman in Prison

Letter #5 of 30. Each woman who attends the prison ministry weekend I’m volunteering at will receive a hand-written letter from each volunteer. Please pray for our ministry team meeting.

Dear ______,

Broken dreams and disappointments haunt me like eerie ghosts that can’t let go of their unfinished business. The spirit of discontentment fights for my heart as I press toward fulfilling my responsibilities. The work before me fills my days, and I long for a new season.

I don’t have to ask if you feel trapped. I can only imagine you do. My little brother is in prison. Ten years. A mandatory minimum. He’s done four and a half. No chance for parole.

I feel trapped. I feel trapped with my brother’s sentence, my family’s pain, loneliness, lack of various securities my heart longs for. It hurts me and it hurts our family what happened with my brother. It doesn’t feel fair. It isn’t fair. But were we promised fair? No.

We weren’t promised our dreams or anything really. It’s easy to stop dreaming when you know there is no promise. It’s vulnerable to dream of a different season when the reality is so in your face.

Discontentment is a prison. It traps us in a cell of depression and bitterness. My life hasn’t gone the way I thought it would. I find myself struggling with resentment over it. I look at all the twists and turns, all the unexpected, all of the disappointments.

Does God make mistakes? My head says, “No.” Then why can’t I trust Him in my circumstance? It’s a battle we all face. Our trust in God isn’t going to be perfect. But as we humbly seek Him, step back and stop trying to change or fight our situation, we find God’s presence.

He’s right there with us. The Bible says even if we chose to make our beds in hell, that God is with us (Psalm 139:8). We can’t escape His amazing love for us. His love is greater and deeper than any situation. It surpasses our understanding, our disappointments, and our brokenness.

He loves you. He is with you. Seek Him in your times of discontent.

Praying for you in Jesus’ Name,

Rachael Hartman
Isaiah 43:1-2

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I’m raising $150 to pay for one female inmate to attend the Kiaros prison ministry I’m volunteering at. It may not seem like a lot of money, and you may think I should just pay it myself, but I can’t pass up this opportunity to share the blessing of having you join with me in prayer and support for this weekend. As well, if you understood the time, energy, and travel commitments of each of us volunteers, you would understand why I’m asking for help in raising the financial piece.

If you would like to donate to the prison ministry, it needs to be in the form of a check made out to: KPMI (which stands for Kairos Prison Ministry International). In the memo put: Pulaski, GA. You can mail it to me, Rachael Hartman, at: PO Box 501, Bloomingdale, GA 31302. If you want a tax credit, include your full name and address on a note and they will mail you a tax receipt.

Thank you so much for your support and prayers! Every $5 goes to pay for a meal for one of the inmates that weekend. The meal will have a tag with your name on it. And we will have a paper chain link that will also have your names on a link to show that you have prayed for and invested into the weekend. Praise God for what He will do! Please keep me in your prayers as I will be speaking on Obstacles to Accepting God’s Grace, and sharing part of my own testimony in the process.

To add your name to the prayer chain (which will be visualized with a paper link chain – your name will be on one link) please leave a comment below. And please pray for Kairos #40 ~ Pulaski Women’s State Prison in Georgia. Kairos weekend happening August 25-28, 2016.